


Flicker

by GooeyHeat



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Immortality, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 10:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooeyHeat/pseuds/GooeyHeat
Summary: Kaguya decides to break her boredom by attending a party at the Hakurei Shrine. She meets Mokou there, and is forced to reconsider what they really mean to each other.
Relationships: Fujiwara no Mokou & Houraisan Kaguya, Fujiwara no Mokou/Kamishirasawa Keine
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	Flicker

A moderately busy day in Eientei was full of activity. Rabbits ran to and fro carrying supplies (or at least trying to look helpful), human and youkai patients alike waited to see Eirin or one of the more experienced rabbits (usually just Reisen), and the mansion in general had a feeling of liveliness.

In a secluded room in the back, though, there was little activity to speak of. There was simply one girl, with long, straight black hair, alone in her bedroom.

This room held one Kaguya Houraisan, and she was bored out of her immortal skull.

"Ugh, there's nothing to do!" she exclaimed, flopping backwards onto her bed. "I feel like I haven't been out of the house in months!" She glanced over a calendar next to her bed; ever since Eientei opened up to the rest of Gensokyo, she'd made a habit of marking the days, despite how meaningless the passage of time was to an immortal being. "I _haven't_ been out of the house in months!" she corrected.

She sat up on her bed and looked out her door. Seeing someone pass by, she made a decision. "Inaba!" she called, using the name she used for any and all rabbits in the mansion.

"Ah- Yes, Lady Kaguya?" Reisen, dressed in her human medicine seller disguise, broke off from her path and entered Kaguya's room through the open door.

Kaguya looked at her outfit. "You look good in that, Reisen," she said, smiling kindly.

"Oh- um, thank you, Lady Kaguya," Reisen said, averting her eyes and shuffling her feet a bit.

Kaguya giggled. "You know there's no reason to act so formal with me these days. Anyway, could you go get Eirin for me? I need to talk to her."

"Sure thing!" Reisen walked quickly out of the room, and Kaguya laid back down on her bed.

A few minutes later, Eirin entered the room. "What is it, Kaguya?" she asked.

"Could you close the door?" Kaguya asked. After Eirin did so, Kaguya sat up on her bed and continued. "Well, the truth is..." She trailed off.

"Yes?" Eirin prompted.

"I'm FREAKIN' BORED!" Kaguya suddenly yelled, flopping back on her bed.

"...Ah," said Eirin. Kaguya had a tendency to act... less mature when she wasn't in her best mood, and Eirin was used to this. "Well," Eirin continued, "I'm glad you finally decided to come to me with this."

Kaguya stopped being dramatic and sat up again. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Frankly, Kaguya, I've started to worry about you. After we opened up Eientei to the rest of Gensokyo, you started being sociable and meeting new people, but recently you've cooped yourself back up in your room for so long. It almost feels like those years we spent in hiding, and that's no way for you to live."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Eirin-" Kaguya began.

"Please don't apologize to me, Kaguya. This is for your sake," Eirin interrupted.

"...right. Anyway, I don't know what it is, but it's all seemed like too much effort recently. I mean, is there really anything to do out there?"

"I'm sure there's plenty," Eirin said. "What about that immortal human? Have you played with her recently? Or even sent assassins?"  
"Oh please." Kaguya rolled her eyes. "The assassins stopped being fun years ago. What's the point of starting a fight I'm not even a part of? At any rate... it's been ages since Mokou's come by and demanded to fight me. So there's nothing for me there."

Eirin gave a bemused smile. "You can't go seek her out?"

Kaguya looked at her like she just grew a second head. "You really don't understand why I can't do that?"

"I suppose I don't," Eirin sighed. "At any rate, there's been a pretty constant influx of new arrivals and interesting people into Gensokyo. I think you'd do well to just go to some gatherings and see what happens." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned towards the door. "Tewi! Come in here, please."

Immediately, the rabbit opened the door and stepped inside. "How'd you know I was eavesdropping?" Tewi said with a grin.

"Because I'm not stupid," Eirin replied. "Anyway, do you know of any parties at the Hakurei shrine coming up? I think that would be a good way for our princess to have some fun."

"You're in luck!" Tewi said, shooting out finger guns as she made a reference to her special ability. After Kaguya made the same sign back and winked, Tewi continued. "There's one in three days. I hear she's been fermenting her own plum wine. That oughta be good."

"Three days..." Eirin thought for a moment. "Unfortunately, I have a number of appointments that day, so I won't be able to accompany you, Kaguya. Would you be willing to join our princess, Tewi?"

"Certainly!" Tewi said.

"Excellent. Oh, and bring Udonge- er, Reisen too. She's quite a hard worker and has been keeping up well recently, but sometimes I wonder if I'm pushing her too hard. I think she'd enjoy spending an evening with you two."

"Alright, I'll give it a shot," Kaguya said. "Hopefully it'll be at least somewhat interesting..." she said with a yawn.

Three days later, rabbits and princess climbed the stairs to the Hakurei Shrine to find a party already in motion. Almost as soon as they crested the final step, one of their trio was called for.

"Reisen! Hi!" came a voice from across the shrine. It was Youmu Konpaku, the Netherworld's gardener.

Reisen took a step towards her, then stopped. She turned and looked at Kaguya tentatively.

"Go ahead," Kaguya said with a genuine smile. "Enjoy yourself!"

"Th-thank you, Lady Kaguya." Reisen gave a slight bow and then jogged over to Youmu.

"Of course. Now, Tewi-" Kaguya cut off as she realized the other rabbit wasn't next to each other. She scanned the party until she saw Tewi chasing some fairies around. "And I thought I was the childish one..." Kaguya said to herself. "I suppose it's up to me, then. Let's see if there's anyone who looks interesting- oh?" She interrupted her own thoughts when she noticed a girl with characteristic long, silver hair sitting on the grass. "Oh, now I can finally have some fun..."

"...and she keeps getting on my case about sleeping in class! Like, it's not MY fault the material is so easy and Gensokyo is so much more interesting! Ugh, I can't imagine what she has against me..." Sumireko Usami ranted.

Fujiwara no Mokou finished a sip of her drink. "I dunno, it sounds to me like she's worried about you."

"I agree. It really sounds like she cares more than anything," Keine Kamishirasawa added.

"Please. Nobody there cares about me. They're all boring normal girls who stopped bothering to talk to me as soon as I started the Secret Sealing Club."

"She didn't stop," Mokou pointed out.

Sumireko rolled her eyes. "W-well, yeah, but she's class president. It's probably, like, her job or something."

"Perhaps you should consider not thinking the worst of everyone around you. You may be surprised," Keine said, taking a sip of her wine.

"Bleh. What are you, my mom?" Sumireko jabbed.

"Just a concerned teacher," Keine smiled.

"Of COURSE," Sumireko sighed, exasperated. "Mokou, how did a badass like you end up with a girlfriend so lame?"

"Oi!" Mokou growled. She turned to Keine. "You gonna take that from her?"

Keine chuckled. "What kind of teacher would I be if the kids didn't think I was lame?"

Mokou and Sumireko laughed hard at that. "Okay, THAT was funny," Sumireko said, catching her breath. Their merriment was suddenly interrupted, though, by a distinctive sound.

"Oh ho ho ho ho!" Kaguya laughed shrilly. "If it isn't poor little Mokou?"

Mokou rolled her eyes. "Hello, Kaguya," she said, venom dripping from her words.

Sumireko turned to Kaguya, eyes wide. "Wait, Kaguya? As in, Princess Kaguya? The immortal moon princess? And she's HERE? Wow, Gensokyo is amazing!"

Kaguya ignored her and stepped towards Mokou, sneering. "I haven't seen you in a while, Mokou. Been too cowardly to challenge me?"

"Ugh, why now?" Mokou started to get up, but stopped as Keine grabbed her hand.

"Mokou..."

"Keine, it's all right. I remember what we talked about." She leaned over and kissed Keine on the cheek. "I'll be right back."

Mokou got up and followed Kaguya into the trees near the shrine. Sumireko watched them go, confused. "What was that all about?"

Keine sighed. "It's a long story..."

After a minute or so of walking, Kaguya and Mokou arrived at a small clearing some distance from the shrine. Kaguya stepped into the center, then turned to Mokou with a devious smile. "It's been so long since we've done this, hasn't it? Are you ready?"

"Nope," Mokou said matter-of-factly.

"Excellent. Now, come- wait, did you just say 'no?'"

"Sure did,"

"Wh-what do you mean, 'no?'" Kaguya sputtered.

Mokou shoved her hands into her pockets. "I'm not fighting you, Kaguya."

Startled, Kaguya's face quickly twisted into a sneer. "Oh? So you're finally giving up? You've realized you'll never truly crush the beautiful and powerful Princess Kaguya?"

"I guess," Mokou shrugged.

Kaguya chuckled nervously. "O-oh, I get it. This is a trick, right? You're trying to get me to lower my guard so you can hit me with a sneak attack, right? Very tricky, Mokou! Glad to see you're learning some subterfuge!"

Mokou shrugged again. "If I said it wasn't, I guess you wouldn't believe me anyway. Look, can I head back to the party now? Keine's probably worried-"

"NO!" Kaguya shouted, her shrill voice echoing through the trees. Mokou jumped a little at her sudden outburst. "I-I mean, why? How could you possibly refuse another opportunity at your ultimate revenge?"

Mokou put a hand behind her head. "I guess you wouldn't get it, because it was all a silly little game to you, but for years, my life was all about getting revenge on you. It was the only thing that gave my days any meaning beyond just existing eternally." She took a breath. "But you know... recently, things have changed. I have friends, now. I have someone I love. And spending all my energy on anger, on hatred, on vengeance... it wasn't good for me, y'know?"

"But..." Kaguya struggled with her words. "But you and I are eternal! People like that will be gone eventually! Why waste your energy on them?"

"Yeah, most folks don't live forever. Keine's still got at least couple hundred years left, but I'll be real sad when she's gone. Sumireko's a regular human, so she won't even last a century, and I'll miss that crazy kid too. But... that's why it's not a waste, y'know? Even if my time is infinite, the time I get to spend with them isn't." Mokou chuckled. "Heh... ironic, isn't it? Even after giving up the concepts of life and death, my actions end up tied to it anyway."

"But... but... but Mokou! I... we..." At that point, Kaguya broke. She fell to her knees and began crying.

"Oh! Whoa. I, uh..." Mokou trailed off. After a few seconds, she walked over to Kaguya and sat down on the ground next to her. Tentatively, she put a hand on Kaguya's shoulder. Kaguya turned her head towards Mokou, but didn't say anything. She looked back down and continued to cry, while Mokou sat there, silent.

After a few minutes, Kaguya spoke. "You know, when we first started fighting, it was just a silly game to me. Hell, maybe you're right. Maybe it never stopped being a silly game to me. But it was a game that mattered. It was something constant, something else eternal, something that wasn't so empty. But now you've changed, and that's... I didn't think eternal beings like us could change, I guess. So... it's scary."

Mokou leaned back and looked at the sky. "See, that's the difference between you and I, Princess. For you, eternity is frozen, unchanging. But for me..." She conjured a small flame in her hand. "It's an inextinguishable flame. It never fades out, but it flickers, it grows, it spreads, it shrinks, and it leaves things different than before." She crushed the flame in her fist.

"Mokou?"

"Yeah?"

Kaguya looked up. There were still tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. "That was really cheesy."

"Wh-what? I thought it was cool!"

Kaguya giggled. "It was cool, too."

The two returned to silence for a few more minutes. Eventually, though, Mokou started getting up. "Hey. You wanna return to the party now?"

Kaguya took a deep breath and stood up after her. "Yeah. I'll... I'll think about what you said."

"Good. My suggestion? Spend some more time with those rabbits around you. I can tell they care about you a lot. Enjoy what you have with them."

Kaguya smiled as the two started walking back towards the shrine. "Thanks, Mokou."

"No problem. And, uh, Kaguya?"

"Hm?"

Mokou averted her gaze. "Well, um, if you feel like it... maybe sometime, come by and we can just... grab some drinks, y'know? Not as immortals, just as people. As... as friends... I guess."

Kaguya started giggling. "Aw, getting all nervous? Cute!"

"Oi! Only Keine gets to call me cute!"

Kaguya covered her mouth with an oversized sleeve. "Oh, it's not like that. Don't flatter yourself, peasant~"

"Gr- why you..." Mokou grumbled.

The two immortals went their separate ways when they returned to the party. Mokou walked back to where Keine and Sumireko were sitting. Keine's eyes lit up when she saw Mokou. "Oh, you're back! And it... doesn't look like anything happened?"

Mokou smiled slightly. "Yeah... it went okay. We just... talked, y'know?"

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" Keine suddenly leaned over and embraced Mokou, kissing her on the mouth.

"Hey! Get a room, you two!" Sumireko shouted. Keine and Mokou broke away from each other and laughed.

"Sorry, kid, but you gotta put up with us being mushy sometimes!" Mokou said, grinning.

Meanwhile, Kaguya walked over to Reisen. She was still hanging out with Youmu, as well as her boss, Yuyuko, and Tewi had joined them as well.

"Ah, Lady Kaguya!" Reisen said, jumping to her feet.

Kaguya giggled. "No need to be so formal tonight. It's a party, let's enjoy ourselves!" She suddenly put her arms around Reisen and Tewi. "Together!"

"Now you're talkin'!" Tewi responded. "Say, have you tried the plum wine yet? It's delicious!"

"Oh, I haven't gotten the chance! Let's try some..." Kaguya said, pouring herself a cup, and drinking some. "Wow, this is great! Who knew the shrine maiden was a woman of so many talents?"

As the drinks flowed, and the night went on, the party only got livelier. For the first time in a long time, Kaguya Houraisan began to enjoy herself.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm Back Baby.
> 
> I've always felt one of Touhou Project's greatest aspects was the idea of "where do we go from here?" The trauma that shaped the characters is rarely the key interest; it's the person they've become that truly matters. A Mokou that's moved on and a Kaguya being forced to accept that... I think that's an interesting hook.
> 
> (Sumireko's conversation isn't based on any sort of canon events; I just think she needs a friend in the outside world.)


End file.
